Here is the email from Sheri Cummins that explains that: NIH eSubmission Item of Interest - December 4, 2007 NIH Reduces Error Correction Window to Two Business Days Did you see NOT-OD-08-018 in the NIH Guide for Grants & Contracts? You knew this day would come. "Limited time only", "Temporary", "First few submission cycles", "Don't get into the habit of relying on it"...these are some of the phrases we have used since the beginning of NIH's transition to electronic applications to describe the error correction window. In the beginning, the error correction window made sense. The process was new to all of us. The error correction window helped to ensure that Grants.gov and NIH processing times did not prevent the submission of a corrected application in time to meet the receipt deadline. It allowed applicant business offices to get the initial applications in the door and then go back and work with each investigator to correct errors/warnings. NIH and applicant organizations needed to work through the initial learning curve and to identify and make adjustments to the submission process based on their early experiences. Today the situation is very different and it is time to wean folks off of it. Before you start emailing us at xxxxxx@mail.nih.gov (feedback always welcome), let me take a stab at some of the questions you might have... When does the "error correction window" clock start ticking? After January 8, the "error correction window" will be the two business days (Mon.-Fri., excluding Federal holidays) that follow the receipt deadline of the Funding Opportunity Announcement. For example, if your receipt deadline is Tuesday, February 5, 2008, then the "error correction window" begins on Wednesday, February 6 and ends at 5:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, February 7. Does this change effect how much time I have to view my application in eRA Commons? No. The "error correction window" comes into play before you have an assembled application. The two business day "application viewing window" to check your assembled application in eRA Commons remains unchanged. Can I still use the "error correction window" to address identified Warnings if my application is assembled and placed in eRA Commons? Yes. This practice has not changed. To ensure you have one and only one application go forward, it is best to Reject the current assembled application and then submit your corrected application. This is especially important if you are changing PD/PI or application title information. Why move to a two day "error correction window" instead of eliminating it all together (yes, we do get feedback from folks that it should be totally eliminated)? We felt a gradual reduction would be easier on the applicant community. In addition, we'd like to maintain as consistent a message to the applicant community as we can. We still have more grant programs to transition to electronic applications. This new pool of applicants should have the benefit of an error correction window as they work through the electronic submission process. Why now? Shouldn't NIH wait until after the move to the new Adobe forms? Actually, one has nothing to do with the other. The error correction window was never intended to be a built in cushion for potential system issues. The transition from PureEdge to Adobe forms does not change the SF424 (R&R) form set, NIH's application requirements, or the overall submission process - just the tool used by Grants.gov within their forms-based solution. NIH has contingency plans in place that would cover any unforeseen Grants.gov or NIH system issues. If you still have questions or want to provide feedback, we'd be glad to respond. One more thought...the reduced "error correction window" gets the applications to Receipt and Referral three days earlier and it is likely that fewer applicants will be taking advantage of the "error correction window" by using it to make changes not directly associated with errors or warnings. We've heard from the community that this continues to be a problem, so reducing the window should help everyone enforce the rules. Take care, Sheri Cummins Communications Coordinator NIH Office of Extramural Research Division of Communications & Outreach Contractor, LTS To subscribe/unsubscribe to this listserv, please go to our Get Connected page. Sherie Donahue Loma Linda University -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On Behalf Of McCabe, Jeanne Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 9:54 AM To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] NIH gets tough with corrections Yes, I'm confused. How does the five day window (now two days) relate to our two day viewing period? Hypothetically - Does this mean if I submit a grant at 4:59 p.m. on deadline day (and it clears grants.gov edits so I have the grants ID #) but then errors out when it gets to NIH that I have two days to resubmit it? And THEN two days to view it (and resubmit it again if necessary) to correct other "fatal" errors? And in either, neither or both of those two instances in which I hit "submit" after 5 p.m. on the deadline do I have to include a cover letter? -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On Behalf Of Bloomberg, Robert Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 11:21 AM To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] NIH gets tough with corrections Don't we have the two day period after error corrections are done to view the package and make and format/typo/graphics changes? -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org]On Behalf Of Charlie Hathaway Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:00 PM To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org Subject: [RESADM-L] NIH gets tough with corrections NIH now says we only have a 2 day post deadline correction window and all corrections must be in response to errors/warnings. The latter idea is, as far as I know, appearing in an actual NIH Guide notice for the first time. This suggests that there may be some enforcement. So...what do you say to the PI who discovers that his error free/ warning free application sitting on Commons has an ugly misspelling in the title or abstract? Or attached the wrong references!!?? Question: Is there any difference between what constitutes an acceptable "correction" BEFORE the deadline vs AFTER the deadline? The spirit behind NOT-OD-08-018 seems to be the desire to speed up the process of getting proposals to review. Thus, perhaps the real focus here is on shenanigans during the post-deadline period. Certainly, the requirement to actually identify your errors and warnings being corrected only applies to cover letters in applications submitted after the deadline. Charlie ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== *********** CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE *********** This transmission may contain confidential information. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy this material. ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================
